Sant'Agata celebrates the 50th anniversary of its masterpiece coupe

May 23, 2016

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The 50th anniversary of the Lamborghini Miura is upon us, and as part of the celebration the automaker recently sent two Miuras from its museum on a trek through the Italian Alps, retracing the route from the opening sequence of the classic film "The Italian Job." You may recall the first few minutes of the 1969 film show the Miura being driven on the spectacular roads around the Alps -- that's state road 27 slicing through Great St. Bernard Mountain. And it's not too far from Lamborghini's home in Sant' Agata Bolognese.

What made this outing special is that the "fathers" of the Miura took part in the drive. Design legend Marcello Gandini along with engineers Gian Paolo Dallara and Paolo Stanzani were behind the wheels of these cars. Gandini was at Carrozzeria Bertone at the time he penned the Miura, while Dallara and Stanzani engineered the car. Dallara, of course, went on to start his own race car company, creating many Formula One and IndyCar bodies, while Stanzani went on to engineer another Lamborghini legend: the Countach.

The opening sequence of "The Italian Job" featured the Miura, which was just three years old at the time. Photo by Lamborghini

Need proof that the Geneva motor show was always about the high end of the market? Look no further than our coverage of the 1966 event. No, there was no Bugatti Chiron, but in its place was something ...

Test driver Bob Wallace is perhaps the only one of the "fathers" of the Miura who was absent -- he passed away three years ago. Wallace was in charge of road-testing the prototypes and the production examples all through the development process and beyond, continuing on with other Lamborghini models including the Urraco, Espada, Jarama and Countach.

The fastest (and arguably most beautiful) production car at the time of its debut in 1966, the Miura has aged gracefully over the past 50 years and achieved a cult status enjoyed by very few other cars. The Lamborghini factory has a few more events planned throughout the year that will celebrate the Miura's 50th anniversary.